Diluted
by Camster3100
Summary: To further oneself as well as others, sacrifices must be made. But are they worth it? Orochimaru took Naruto on to share his knowledge and scientific discovery, but in the end, became a monster. To beat a monster, Naruto has to become one. Or at least close to it. Naruto/Heavy Witcher Elements. Naruto/Smart/Strong NarutoxHarem!
1. Chapter 1

Being a gifted child is often praised in many cultures, societies, and mostly heralded as a tiding of good things to come. It meant that the child would have great things come from them. They would invent, innovate, and create.

The parents of the gifted child would be praised as well for siring such a wondrous offspring, shifting the child to be great. And, if the child were truly great, they would teach other gifted children once they were old enough.

Orochimaru of the Sannin didn't have parents so no one could praise them, but they praised him often enough, the clan-less prodigy of his generation. He was calm, cool, collected, even as he grew older. And sooner or later, he took on studying the forgotten area of science to his culture: biology, alchemy, and genetics.

While the rest of the world's scientists were concerned with technology and new ways to kill one another, Orochimaru would find ways to accelerate the growth of human's evolution.

"It's for the good of the race," Orochimaru would say time and time again to the public. It was true; he had discovered many antidotes to several 'incurable' poisons with his study in alchemy and of nature.

He did, however, discover many more poisons only he could cure.

Orochimaru discovered many medicines that hospitals across the Elemental Nations used and it was because he believed in the advancement of the human race. No longer would disease kill people unnecessarily when they had the proper means to defend themselves. But, these medicines involved trial and error, thus where his experiments were born.

At first, his experiments didn't involve sentient beings, only animals, sometimes monsters, but, as his ideas expanded outward, growing more and more concentric to the human race as a whole…he needed the real thing.

In the midst of night, a street urchin would disappear here or there, sometimes a homeless man or woman; Orochimaru did not discriminate in his pursuit for the evolution of the human race.

"It's for the good of the species." Orochimaru used to say. It eventually evolved into, "It's for the good of the species, and sacrifices must be made for the whole."

Orochimaru tried time and time again to discover a way for advanced regeneration, though that resulted in the subject being nothing more than a walking mass of cancerous, tumor filled flesh.

He then tried to make it to discover a way for extremely enhanced flexibility, though the first subjects experienced having their joints removed, essentially making them a vegetable, though Orochimaru did eventually succeed by imbuing himself with enough snake DNA to force his body to adapt.

It was trial and error for most experiments. For years, he would attempt experiments, losing hope after each deemed a failure, but a single success would make him thrive.

It was a short time after a successful experiment that Orochimaru had accidentally gotten an arm cut off by an enraged cockatrice he and his subordinates had managed to subdue.

It was then, on an operating table reattaching his arm and getting out the venom of the beast that Orochimaru realized his mortality.

It was then that he felt that the need to take on a lineage. He didn't want children of his own blood, monsters they would be with his diluted DNA.

The Sannin from then on looked at the academy for a suitable heir, and found one, the generation prodigy, a 12 year old Anko Mitarashi.

She embodied the shinobi aspects of Orochimaru when he was younger. She was cunning, had remarkable flexibility, and was quite bright on many levels.

One thing she did not have, however, was his knack for science.

Whenever he tried to introduce her to experimenting on animals or monsters, she tried to complete the assignments but she did not share his zeal and would not likely complete experiments on her own. Orochimaru frowned at this time and time again. She was perfect in all but one key aspect, such a cruel mistress life was.

Orochimaru exited the Hokage tower, a frown on his face as he walked past civilians who regarded him with smiles. He had just reported to the Hokage, or his sensei, Hiruzen on several missing-nin movements along the country's borders. Orochimaru had been gone for over a month much to his personal displeasure.

Thoughts coursed through his head as he walked back to his own compound, a warehouse in the red-light district. If he didn't need to save face, he would call this his home. Many nights he would be found asleep on a couch in his office or at a desk. He even went so far as to have a shower and kitchen installed in the office as well.

The warehouse had the five levels; the first two levels were above ground. The uppermost level was where he did his pharmaceutical and alchemical testing while the first level was comprised of offices and storage for many, many herbs, roots, animal parts, molds, and various other organically comprised substances.

The third level was where Orochimaru experimented on various monsters and animals, purely for the sake of science, discovery, and progression of knowledge. The Hokage agreed to this.

The fourth was where his monsters kept for experiments were stored and other animals and lowest level to the Hokage and Anko.

The fifth level was where his various human experiments were stored as well as where he experimented. Obviously, the Hokage did not agree to this or was even told.

Orochimaru extended his sensory skills to detect anyone in the area of his warehouse before entering the automatic, pressure sensitive, and sliding doors.

His secretary greeted him with a respective bow which Orochimaru barely acknowledged. Without a word, the Snake Sannin walked over the elevators and entered them before pressing a series of buttons that would take him to the fifth floor.

Orochimaru traveled down and when the door opened it reveal blackness. Orochimaru stepped into the void before the motion-sensor lights snapped to life illuminating the room to a degree that everything was visible. The temperature in the room was around forty degrees as this was the experimentation room. The low temperature was so that the experiments that were left to set to study long term affects would not decay.

Orochimaru, however, was not interested in these for a first. They were each a failure so he had no reason to be interested.

He was not sad, but merely disinterested.

The Sannin sat in a chair at a desk in the left corner of the room, multiple stacks of paper scattered along it with pens, pencils and the like.

The chalk-skinned man sat back in his chair, a frown marring his complexion as he rested his chin in his right palm.

"Kabuto," Orochimaru called out to the seemingly empty room only for a silver-haired boy around eight to appear in front of him, kneeling. Orochimaru had considered Kabuto as his heir but had also told himself that his heir needed to be independent, while Kabuto was by no means independent.

"Hai, Orochimaru-sama?" the boy replied submissively.

"Have you found any suitable students?" the Sannin asked, hoping for a response of the good nature.

Kabuto was silent for a moment, almost as if he were contemplating telling his superior. Seconds passed before the younger of the two relented.

"Naruto Uzumaki, age five, spends most of his time in the library. He reads various books of up to college level. Books include, Monster Biology, Human Physiology, Human Psychology, Reproduction on a Cellular Level, Machinations of Evolution, among other science-based books. He arrives there promptly after nine a.m. most mornings. He stays there until three p.m. usually procuring multiple books to take home, after four p.m. he trains himself in chakra manipulation and chakra control," Kabuto read off as if he were reading from a script.

Orochimaru became more and more interested in the spawn of Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze the more he heard. It seemed that not only did this boy enjoy the study of science, biology to be more specific, but he also seemed to have interest in a ninja career whereas Anko only seemed to be interested in the ninja side of his teachings.

Orochimaru looked to a nearby clock. It was twelve p.m. so the boy was still possibly at the library. With a zeal like no other, the snake Sannin walked swiftly from his chair and desk back to the elevator, bent on finding Naruto Uzumaki.

…

"Hmm, Naruto-chan, what books do you need now?" the Librarian of the Public Konoha Library asked Naruto Uzumaki, a small boy with a white tee shirt on, blue shorts and blue sandals. He had sparkling blue eyes and some of the blondest hair one could see, if touched by the sun itself. The librarian herself was garbed in a dress reaching to her ankles. She was in her early thirties with long brown hair reaching her middle back and black eyes.

"I require the books: Monster Physiology Volume 3 as well as Monster Psychology Volume 2: Invertebrate Edition," the boy read with a monotone as he flipped a page in the book he currently possessed, Human Evolution, Then and Now. Occasionally he would put the book down before pulling a hardback notebook over to himself and writing in it.

If one were allowed to look, which no one was save for the librarian occasionally, they would see several diagrams of monsters, specific traits about them, known weaknesses and attributes. The only reason he allowed the librarian to look was only because Naruto tolerated her presence. While the general population of Konoha was nice to him, as anyone would be to an orphan, Naruto generally disliked people. Having read human Psychology among other books detailing other atrocities committed by humans themselves, Naruto played it safe. While extremely intelligent, his young brain took that for fact, and having since held almost everyone at arm's length.

"Here are you books, Naruto-chan," the Librarian said as she laid down two books in front of Naruto, the books were somewhat thin compared to others but quite hefty.

Naruto 'hmm'ed' in thanks, his lazy eyes reading while he wrote before looking at the other books to see if they were correct. They books were indeed the ones he asked for so he began to write and read again.

The Librarian, at first, was quite cold and cynical when the boy first came in here, reading books meant for fifth-graders, and he had some trouble understanding words but, with her help, he quickly, very quickly, shot up in intelligence and reading capabilities. She quickly warmed up to him, helping him whenever he needed it claiming that no one else in the village read as much as he did. While it wasn't true, it was far from false.

"Tomika-san, did you know that drowners or rather Mergunt in Latin, are very susceptible to fire, and after killing one, nearby Mergunt are effectively stunned for a few moments?" Naruto asked, his interest clearly piqued in this tidbit of information.

"No, I did not, Naruto-chan, but now I do," Tomika giggled at his fascination. He was always quite adorable when he found something new.

"But, did you know that drowners are actually undead, and are born from the drowning of evil men or of evil dead men thrown in lakes?" a voice said. It was a few feet from the table both he and Tomika were sitting at.

Naruto looked up to see a pale man, arms crossed with a jonin flak jacket on, yellow eyes, and headband on his head. "Orochimaru of the Sannin?" Naruto questioned. This man had actually written a few of the books he had read.

"Correct, boy. Tomika-san, don't you have other readers to attend to?" Orochimaru questioned, a friendly smile on his face, but Tomika could see the subtle gesture for her to leave them.

Tomika bowed respectfully at this and moved to another part of the library. Orochimaru, meanwhile, pulled out a chair and sat beside a still reading Naruto.

Naruto remained silent as he read, getting an off feeling from the person beside him but otherwise stayed focused.

"How is your studying, Naruto-kun?" Orochimaru asked the boy of which grunted in annoyance. Just like the rest of the villagers, taking a false interest in him. Such as humans were, taking faux interest in another's life to get something out of it.

"What do you want?" Naruto asked, getting to the point. He knew how humans were, or at least liked to think he did anyways.

Orochimaru merely smiled at the boy. "You seem to have a large interest in the monsters of this world, humans included. What if I told you could study these monsters, investigate what makes these things tick, for science. Instead of studying these books, you could have the real thing at your finger-tips. All you have to do is be my student, let me teach you. You have a gift and I will help you soar. So, Naruto-kun, what do you say?" Orochimaru asked the boy, smile still present.

Naruto paused reading. He did desire to study monsters, possibly even test his skills against them once he was at a certain level. He did want to study humans, see what made them angry, what made them, well, human. He was a scientist, and reading just didn't seem to be enough here.

Naruto closed his book and grabbed his notebook before setting it in his lap.

"When do we begin…Orochimaru-sensei?" Naruto asked making Orochimaru's smile grow even wider.

…

Two years had passed since Orochimaru had taken Naruto on, two years of non-stop scientific growth for the youth. The Sannin had troves of personal notes he had collected over the years of study, detailing to even the smallest, most minute pieces of information that the books Naruto had previously read had nothing on.

One project Naruto had completed was a concoction of DNA from various beasts that would accelerate regeneration. Having taken mutagens from werewolves, combining them with various cancer-negating herbs, then diluting them with a single strand of DNA from a fiend which was very tough to come by, he had made it to where as soon as a gap in skin had closed, all regeneration throughout the body stopped, but, it was kick started by various adrenal hormones that would constantly flow throughout the body thanks to werewolf DNA. This taxed the host, but successfully allowed mostly non-harmful regeneration.

Orochimaru had tested this on various subjects, with a 50/50 success rating while the others succumbed to the adrenal hormones and went comatose. That was before he did some tweaking himself, upping the success to 70/30, but it only worked on subjects with naturally lowered body temperatures, and with snake DNA, Orochimaru had successfully preformed the operation on himself.

This was a very successful moment for Naruto as well as Orochimaru. As a reward, the man had treated the boy to going to the merchant's festival, promising him whatever he wanted. The merchant's festival was held once every ten years or so and sported many unique items from all over the elemental nations, the world even.

Naruto was dressed in a black long-sleeve shirt with white shorts and black sandals while Orochimaru was dressed in his usual jonin attire. Naruto's hair had become less spiky and fell to his shoulders with his features a little more defined than they used to be. His stature had increased from three feet tall to a little over four feet tall.

It was late in the afternoon, and the sun was beginning to set. The merchant's quarter where the festival was held was quite large but the two had gone through it one and was about to clear through the second time around. Orochimaru had acquired a few books for himself while Naruto hadn't gotten a single thing. Orochimaru didn't mind however, he knew that Naruto was picky and was prepared for this.

"Have you not found anything to jump-start your interest, Naruto-kun?" Orochimaru asked with a sly smile while Naruto merely grunted.

"Nothing, Orochimaru-sensei. I didn't expect to, either," Naruto told the Sannin as they walked.

Orochimaru 'hmm'ed' in response as he scanned the stalls and sifted through the crowd. The populous of Konoha had recognized Naruto as a student of Orochimaru as they would often see the two together, gathering supplies or information about subjects.

It was mere moment later that Orochimaru spotted a stall he hadn't seen on their first go around. The vendor was an older man, grey hair and tanned skin while garbed in a loose white shirt, black pants, and leather boots. He had no outstanding features to speak of, simply an old man.

But it seemed that Naruto was ahead of the game and was already headed in that direction.

Orochimaru walked over, pushing gently through the crowd to see the old man with arms crossed studying the boy who was eyeballing a set of books among others.

The books were bound in old leather, and it seemed that if he were to even touch them they would fall apart. There were three books which seemed to be part of a set while there was a fourth. The fourth was smaller than the rest and was bound by a lavender-colored hardback.

He saw Naruto trace his hands over the books, whispering things to himself.

"Wi…tch…er…Beast…iary," he heard first. "Witcher…Al…chemy," the Sannin heard second. It was almost as if the boy were deciphering the words, tasting them. Orochimaru looked down to see that the titles of the books were in a different language, Latin it seemed. "Witcher…com…bat…styles…and…teach…ings," he heard next only for Naruto to squint his eyes at the last book.

"Tri..al…of…Gra…ses…and…other…augme…ntations," Naruto said. He was happy he decided to pick up the dead language.

"100,000 yen for all four," the vendor said as soon as Naruto had completed saying the title of the last book. The blonde looked up to the man and blinked.

"Isn't that a bit expensive?" Naruto asked the man only for the vendor to grunt. Orochimaru remained silent but agreed with the boy.

"These books are one of a kind, haven't seen any elsewhere, here or in the west. Originally they were priced at 100,000 a piece but since you can read them and no one else can, I'll cut you deal," the old man told the Sannin and boy.

 _As backwards as that logic is, the boy deserves a treat._ "Deal," Orochimaru said, reaching for his pouch containing his wallet to get the desired amount.

Naruto's eyes gleamed in happiness as he picked up all four books, putting the Trial of the Grasses on top. He didn't stop smiling for the rest of the day, well; he did when he discovered the rest of the books were in Latin as well.

"Sigh, I should have guessed," Naruto said. "I should have gotten a book on Latin as well."

…

Another two years had passed since those moments in the market, and during those years, the books had been taking Naruto on a wild ride.

He first started on the Witcher Combat Styles and Teachings and understanding what it meant to be a Witcher. Witchers were beings on superhuman skill and precision, though that was below being known as the best Monster-Hunters-For-Hire. They were like some Shinobi who took the jobs. However, every seasoned Shinobi-hunter knew that chakra was virtually useless when directly used against the beasts.

Naruto had no real reason for becoming a Witcher, but he also knew of what shinobi truly were. They were the lowest of the low, killers for hire, wiping out entire settlements just for the sake of the mission, for the sake of the job, for the sake of getting paid. Naruto had no desire to become of those beasts himself. He was a person of code, of creed, and shinobi lacked that. The Witchers were generally neutral, or that was what their teachings entailed.

Witchers had four schools of teachings, the Wolf School, Griffin School, Cat, Viper, and Bear.

The Wolf School specialized in Medium armor, heavy long-sword training, and moderate sign training. The Bear School specialized in heavy armor, crossbows, and long-swords. The Cat and Viper schools, while prided with ambushing, short swords, and moderate sign training, were watered down to assassin's for hire. The Griffin school specialized in medium armor, heavy sign training, and some long-sword training.

Naruto discovered, very slowly because of his self-teaching of Latin that Signs were seal-less techniques that did not need chakra, and thus were extremely useful against beasts. The only issue was, that magic had evolved out of humans long ago, replaced by chakra. Signs could calm or incite enemies, create fires, let loose telekinetic blasts, make a personal shield of energy, and slow enemies among others.

Though, back to the training, Naruto had decided to take up the Wolf School. He had always enjoyed sword-play and had studied before under Orochimaru. The medium armor allowed for free movement while offering adequate protection. And with the moderate sign training it allowed versatility.

Honestly, Naruto would have taken all of the teachings, but the Wolf teachings were the most prevalent in the book, and their styles would interfere with others.

Naruto had told Orochimaru of the books, but not the Trial of the Grasses, as Naruto was especially selfish when it came to the book, but Orochimaru merely shrugged it off, he was gaining plenty from Naruto translating the alchemy book.

Naruto had good reason to be selfish of the book, as it had many gene-based augmentations that would increase Orochimaru's lust for discovery when it came to the human genome.

During the two years, aside from beginning to train in becoming a Witcher, Naruto had continued his scientific study, unlocking his chakra and simply fine-tuning his senses. He had also begun his physical training, working on making his body strong. The amount of things he could learn from Orochimaru at his level decreased as time passed, though Naruto could tell that Orochimaru wasn't taking an interest in him or Anko anymore.

In fact, Naruto could tell that the snake Sannin was becoming more and more recluse, not really leaving the lowest level of his warehouse. Naruto knew about the human experiments, but never participated. Orochimaru had asked repeatedly if he wanted to experiment with him but Naruto declined respectively each time. He held no desire to become a beast like Orochimaru.

Walking past or next Orochimaru on various occasions, Naruto could hear the snake Sannin talk to himself about three main subjects: Immortality, Kinjutsu (Forbidden Jutsu), and the Human Genome.

Naruto knew from the beginning Orochimaru desired to unlock hidden potential in humans, unlocking more than ten percent of the brain, allowed constant adrenal-like functions, using more muscle that allowed thousands of pound to be lifted at a time without the use of chakra, heightened perceptions, those were just a few of the things the snake Sannin wished to achieve. Naruto believed it admirable, but did not enjoy the ways Orochimaru had detailed his way of attaining those goals.

Naruto shook himself free of these thoughts as he wiped sweat from his brow with a cloth. Naruto's hairstyle stayed the same, at his shoulders while still slightly spiky though his eyes had turned a dull blue. His stature had changed to an even four foot four thought not only did his height change, so did his attire. Now he wore light-leather armor he learned how to make from the books. He sported leather padding on his chest, covering his pectorals and shoulders, upper arms and forearms along with black gloves. Under that he wore light, silver-colored chainmail that prevented slicing. The chainmail covered his entire torso and stopped mid-bicep.

On his legs he wore leather padding on the tops of his things and calves while he wore light, silver-colored chain mail. He also wore a leather piece that covered his groin and pelvic area but did not connect the thighs. The armor was not heavy by any means, nor was it clunky which would cause noise. All of this was form-fitting and very light.

For weaponry he had a tanto on his back. If he knew where to get large amounts of silver, or had enough time, he would create a silver and steel sword. The silver sword would be for combating monsters, the steel for lesser enemies.

Orochimaru knew of Naruto's desire to become a Witcher, and did not hold the boy back so he did not send the boy to the academy. At most, Orochimaru thought of Witchers as worthy goal, but thought of Shinobi as a greater form of weapon.

"Naruto-kun," the blonde heard. He turned his head to see Anko. She wore a chuunin flak-jacket zipped up all the way with a fishnet shirt under it. For leg-ware, she had blue shinobi pants that had been rolled up to right under the kneecap. And on her feet she wore blue shinobi sandals.

"Hmm?" Naruto responded as he twirled the tanto in his hand before returning it to its sheath.

"Orochimaru-sensei wanted us to run to the merchant district to get some supplies," Anko told the youth of which sighed but nodded as she handed him a supply list. It seemed that Orochimaru trusted him more than Anko when it came to getting supplies.

 _Asshole,_ Naruto thought as he made cross-shaped hand sign. "Kage-Bunshin no Jutsu," he muttered as ten shadow clones were formed in plumes of smoke around him. "Five of you attach weight seals to the tanto to simulate the weight of a broadsword and run through slicing and slashing techniques while the other five practice chakra control." Naruto commanded to the gathered shadow clones all of which nodded.

The youth had learned the jutsu from Orochimaru so that he could study multiple experiments at the same time as well as learn at accelerated rates.

Anko shook her head as they exited the training area attached to the warehouse before they made their way to the merchant district.

….

Naruto walked, a leather bag slung over his shoulder carrying the required supplies, though the supplies made no sense. None of them held any significance to the other. They did not react with one another, create a formula, nothing. Why on earth did he call for them? A distraction, possibly? And why did Orochimaru send for Anko to come back before him?

At that, and explosion could be heard from where he was, and it was in the direction he was going.

 _Anko,_ he thought with worry as he dropped the satchel and sprinted towards the warehouse.

Naruto arrived minutes later, his eyes soaking in the burning area around him. This was before his mind flooding with memories from three shadow clones. Chakra control would be easier now, yes, and the books were safely hidden away along with various notes and notebooks. But he had no memories of Anko. Growling to himself, he entered the burning husk of a building, dead set on finding her.

…

Anko gasped for breath as she turned around a corner just as another explosion shook the place. She was on the fourth level, the lowest level.

Orochimaru had called her back from gathering supplies via messenger sparrow and when she entered the warehouse, she was called to his office. She did notice that area was more bare than usual but ignored it as she knew her sensei was a peculiar man.

When she entered all he did was smile at her and tell her she was valuable to him. She smiled under his praise only for him to finish saying that she was valuable to him, only as a test subject. That was when the area exploded and for her to fall two floors down.

There were monsters all around her, knocking against the cages, growling, hissing, and thrashing. They didn't want to be here any more than she did.

She gasped for breath as she rested against a wall before sinking to the ground allowing her arms to circle and hug herself. Her sensei had betrayed her, called her a test subject, the only person aside from Naruto to take an interest in her and her skills had betrayed her.

Tears brimmed in her eyes as she shook, the growls and hisses of the beings around her dying, becoming a mere whisper of once was. That was until…

"Anko, look out!" she heard a voice yell to her only for her to look up and see two Nekkers in front of her, their large maws practically grinning at her. Nekkers had naturally grey skin, large, sharp teeth with an even larger mouth that always seemed to grin. They had large heads but a frail, weak looking body structure. While their stature was not imposing, being between four and five feet, their pack-mentality made them dangerous in numbers.

One raised a clawed hand and swiped at her only for someone to knock her out of the way, slamming her against the ground. She huffed as she used her arms to prop herself up only for her to see the back of Naruto, four large gashes running along his back, the Nekker's claws tearing the leather and chainmail.

Naruto had his tanto raised and did not seem to care about having large tears in his armor or skin but he was more geared towards the safety of Anko herself.

The Nekkers growled at the newcomer and one charged, claws rose to either side of him. Naruto raised his tanto up to guard as the monster ran at him. The Nekker swiped forcing Naruto to duck before the Witcher-in-training delivered a strong kick to the monster, forcing it back. Naruto took the advantage and swiped his tanto at the creature, slicing into the grey skin of its abdomen.

Entrails from the Nekker poured from the wound before it soon fell dead. The other Nekker shrieked in anger, releasing several, bone-chilling clatters of its teeth, but that was before a kunai found its way to the beast's head, courtesy of Anko.

Naruto's eyes widened before he released a breath, sheathed his tanto, and turned to Anko of which was now standing, the tears in her eyes being replaced with anger.

"There are no exits down here. We have to make our way to the stairs," Naruto informed the older of the two making the latter nod.

The students of the snake Sannin made their way to the stairs as Naruto received memories from his seven remaining shadow clones. They had successfully completed their mission. Naruto had planned for this possibility well over a year ago. Several signs of insanity had come to surface while Naruto observed the snake Sannin, or that was what he had read in the psychology books. He had contemplated going to the Hokage but who would the fire shadow trust, a simple child with no name or one of his only students which had served him faithfully?

Naruto's plans involved gathering as many materials and notes as he could before hiding them away in a nearby storage unit unattached to the warehouse. Just because of Orochimaru's insanity and lust for furthering humanity, Naruto would not allow years of painstakingly handwritten information to become ash. It was unfitting of him as a scientist.

Thinking of the now, Naruto reached the second level with Anko in tow. More explosions were set off as they tried to make their way out of the burning husk of ash and debris. It was exceedingly difficult as ciders and ash clouded their vision. The cuts on his back burned as he walked but he endured.

Naruto raised his left forearm to right above his eyes to stave away flames from his face while making sure Anko was close. He used his right hand to clasp hers. She offered no resistance as he led her through the inferno. Part of the ceiling had collapsed making several wooden pillars look like bones of a burnt skeleton.

He scanned the area briefly while trying to find a decent way to get out, though he felt his ear twitch before looking up to see a wooden beam falling from above from the second level.

With his right hand he propelled Anko forward so that she would not be crushed. Naruto swore briefly as he saw his previous area of escape being closed by more falling pieces of burning wood. "Get out of here, Anko!" he yelled to her only for her to raise a hand to him from her position on the ground. Soon enough with the falling debris he couldn't see her any more.

"Having fun, Naruto-kun?" the youth heard a voice from behind him. Naruto turned around to see Orochimaru, looking at him, a sly grin in place on his pale visage.

Naruto drew his tanto and readied himself. He knew he couldn't beat the Sannin, but he hoped he could hold him off long enough for the Hokage to arrive.

"Now what are you going to do with that, Naruto-kun? You have no reason to fight me; I'm not going to kill you. I'm merely a clone and I haven't hurt Anko in the slightest. So why raise your sword?" Orochimaru asked with his grin still in place.

Naruto growled, not responding to this, this _animal, t_ his beast that he, a Witcher in training, should put down, not even for a price, simply for the sake of humanity. But Naruto knew that Orochimaru was far away by now.

"Why, why betray Konoha, betray me, betray Anko? We were your students, you were our sensei, so why?" Naruto asked the clone of which slowly lost its grin.

"This place, the Hokage, this village, was holding back my research. The Hokage was slowly becoming aware of my experiments and would soon find out by force. The old man would destroy everything I have achieved for humanity, so I had to escape. I was going to ask you, but you hold human life in such a regard, you would have declined," Orochimaru explained. This information was irrelevant so he would share.

Naruto silently agreed to that. Human life was important, but he also knew to what degree it was important. He did not share the information of Orochimaru's experiments of innocents because he could still learn from the man.

"Here," the clone threw a scroll to Naruto, the latter loosening a hand on the tanto to catch it, the flames around him beginning

"That, my dear student is a parting gift, the Kusanagi. I knew you had been looking for a broadsword and you were always my favorite, but of course you knew that. So continue experimenting, for the sake of science and discovery. However, Naruto-kun, beware…" Orochimaru gained the grin again. "The world will know evolution, and I will make sure that happens. I have many more weapons, all of which are as dangerous, even more so than that sword. Try to stop me but, you will fail. Until then, my dear student…" and at that, the Orochimaru clone dissipated into mud.

Naruto coughed into his hand as smoke entered his lungs before he pocketed the scroll in a pouch. While he was thankful for the supposed sword in the scroll, he had bigger problems, such as getting out of this place.

Forming several shadow clones with a hand-sign, Naruto waited patiently in the fire-filled area as they searching for a way out and would dispel as soon as they found a way out.

A minute passed and Naruto could feel himself becoming light-headed from the smoke, though that was until a clone dissipated, signaling it had found a way out. Naruto turned to his left and jumped over a pillar and slid under another before jumping out a shattered window, a large explosion following after him as he ducked, signaling that the gas-filled tanks had exploded.

 _Dumb luck I suppose,_ the Witcher-in-training thought as he circled around the building to find Anko passed out on the ground, several civilians watching the blaze while several water specialized shinobi tried to extinguish the fire. Naruto shook his head as they seemed to ignore the downed girl. Naruto scooped her up, though that seemed slightly difficult due to his stature, but he withstood the weight and jumped from rooftop to rooftop to the hospital. Naruto looked down to her and shook his head in anger.

 _Damn you, Orochimaru, damn you…_

…

Morning had come and Naruto was awake in a chair near Anko, of which was asleep in a hospital bed. She had suffered from shock, slight suffocation due to the smoke, and some burns, but other than that she was fine.

Naruto had only suffered from the wounds on his back and a couple burns. The slashes on his back would heal but the doctors had told him that they would scar, just as he thought. He didn't care though. Witchers bore scars on their bodies as testament to their skills at surviving.

News had spread of Orochimaru's betrayal and thus their statuses as a Sannin's students fell to students of a traitor.

Naruto leaned forward and clasped his hands together, thoughts running through his head.

' _This world will know evolution,'_ Orochimaru's voice echoed through his mind.

Naruto knew the man wasn't bluffing. He was always determined in his pursuit of anything. Many, many innocents would die if Orochimaru's plan came to fruition. He couldn't allow that to happen as he was the only one who knew.

And Naruto knew that if Anko found out, she would want to help, but Naruto valued her too much for her to get caught in the crossfire. Steeling himself, he got up and exited the room, not turning back and head to his storage unit.

For the next few months, Naruto lived there, secluded from the world, never talking to anyone save contractors. He took the occasional job from a bounty board that wasn't too difficult as in the occasional Drowner pack that would infest a river or stream, or Nekkers that would take over a woodland area or basement.

The employers were very scornful and hateful to the student of the traitor so Naruto had to often do jobs for half-price. After a while, Naruto had acquired a place to live, an apartment in a decent area. After that, he would still take jobs to remain afloat financially. He had even made a name for himself. But just preferred to be called 'Witcher' when on a job or by his contractors. Jobs for him had even started to come from outside of Konoha. These jobs were often even well-paying.

They were also infinitely more difficult.

Naruto knew of the Trial of Grasses and other augmentations. Eventually, after a job for a werewolf, Naruto getting several new scars from that, he knew he needed an edge.

By no means was he slacking in his shinobi training. He disliked shinobi but he knew that would face them out in the field. Orochimaru was a shinobi no matter how much of a beast he was, and Naruto needed the necessary skills to defeat him. Naruto knew various techniques, water, lightning, and earth being the most prevalent. He was very fast, and had near-perfect chakra control and could manipulate chakra very, very well.

But he also knew of the three in chance survival. He did read that the chance of survival was upped the closer one was to the beginning of puberty.

It was sometime after becoming thirteen that he had gathered all of the necessary materials for the alchemic augmentation as well as others that he had begun to perform it on himself.

The lowest level of the warehouse was relatively untouched and the equipment was still useable.

"Heart-rate: normal, breathing rhythm: normal, body temperature: 98.6. We're ready, boss," a Naruto clone said to the original as he lay on an operating table. Each of the clones was reinforced with various seals and would remain operational for a week, even if the original expired.

Naruto nodded. He was currently garbed in a white gown and had several machines attached to him, but none that injected anything into him, such as painkillers or antibiotics. The ritual had clearly stated that he needed to be as pure as he could be.

Naruto sighed as he sat up before being handed a bowl full of steaming, orange liquid by a clone. The liquid was full of various mutagens from monsters, and had many herbs imbued into it.

Naruto gulped lightly before raising the bowl to his lips. He opened his mouth and let the liquid pour into it before he gulped…once…twice…three times before the fluid in the bowl was gone, every last drop.

Naruto lay down and waited for a moment and when a minute passed, he spoke.

"I think this will be counted as a failure, guys," Naruto said and not seconds after this his entire body became tense and his back arched. He opened his mouth to scream in unbearable agony but no sounds came out save for a strangled breath of air.

"Heartbeat, rising to three hundred beats per minute! Body temperature raising to one twenty!" the head clone called out to the ones gathered. One gathered an adrenaline shot before injecting it straight into the original's chest, flooding him with adrenal properties only for it to have no effect.

"We're losing him, we're losing him!"

….

" _We're losing him, we're losing him!"_

Naruto heard a voice. It sounded like…him. He shrugged as he looked around himself. He could see rolling hills, vast expanses of forest around him with a castle upon a mountain in the distance.

That was before he saw the darkness enclosing him.

The trees rotted, the grass died, the castle crumbled, each and every piece of land decayed into blackness.

It came closer and closer, nothing to stop it.

"It can't end like this…not like this…" he said to himself.

No, he wouldn't die like this.

"I won't die!" Naruto shouted to himself as a white pulse of energy exploded from his body, pushing the darkness back, only for it to come back at him, twice as fast.

"No, no, no…"

The darkness reached his feet and started to travel up his legs.

"No, I can't die…" he shook his head in fear as it reached his lower torso.

"Witchers defeat monsters, monsters represent the darkness of the world, this, this is no different…" Naruto said to himself as his hair covered his eyes.

The black, abysmal colored material had reached his neck.

"I…I will survive, I…will become a monster…to defeat the monsters…to kill the man, who wishes to destroy what it means to be human…no, I'm not a monster…I'm just diluted, I'm a diluted human…AND I WILL SURVIVE!"

…

"He's dead," a clone said, its eyes deadening as the heart-rate monitor reached zero. "Time of death, 1:34 A.M. Boss put up a good fight, if seven hours is a good fight by Witcher standards," the clone said as the other gathered clones nodded.

Another clone slowly reached for the covers at the end of the table to cover the original.

As it reached his mid-torso, an arm shot up from the covers pushing the cloth aside. The clones' eyes widened as the original's eyes opened wide, very wide to reveal a set of red-colored eyes with slit pupils.

"It worked, but I thought the eyes were supposed to be orange-colored?" A clone said in wonder, though it was mostly relieved that they would continue surviving.

"There is a minor chance for pupil irregularities, or so the book states," another stated as the original's arm fell back to its place beside him and his eyes closed.

"Heart-rate, one twenty, temperature, one hundred and seven degrees. It's as if he's fighting off an infection," the head clone stated. "But he should be fine," the clone added as the others nodded.

"It seems we're diluted in the human genome, now, hmm?" a clone stated as he hook the original up with some fluids so that he would not dehydrate.

Another clone nodded in agreement. "So it seems, we're very Diluted indeed…"

… _ **.**_

 _ **REVIEW!**_

 _ **And that concludes the first chapter of Diluted. Sorry about Incarnate, I just recently started playing the Witcher and this popped up.**_

 _ **Now, I'm not putting this in the crossover section because I've seen it so many times with other fics, I might as well take my chances.**_

 _ **Anyways, drop a review and tell me how it was.**_

 _ **This was kinda rushed, but I saw no other importance other than him developing his skills and introducing the plot a little bit.**_

 _ **Anywho, REVIEW!**_

 _ **PEACE! :D**_


	2. Chapter 2

A white-haired man walked through a forest, two long-swords side-by-side on his back as he appeared to be looking at the ground, searching for something. He wore a dull, worn, brown, long-sleeve trench coat that ended at his knees. The trench coat was held together by a single buckle in the middle of the torso with a folded over collar. On the shoulders of the jacket it had metal barbs though someone would seriously be hurt if he were to run into them with his shoulder.

On his hands he wore leather vambraces with descending layers of metal armor on them as well as black gloves that had pieces of steel on the tops of them and steel knots on the knuckles. On his chest he wore a single plate of steel armor that covered his upper torso. And underneath that he wore a light chainmail shirt with a plain white, thin shirt underneath. On his legs he wore steel plates on the tops of his thighs as well as tops of his calves but not the back of them along with dark-colored, padded pants beneath that. On his feet he wore a pair of steel-toed leather boots.

The man held an impressive stature, standing at five foot ten. He did not have a bulky build but one couldn't really distinguish with the armor. His eyes were red with slits for pupils and he sported grey-white, somewhat spiky hair tied in a short ponytail with a few, long strands falling in front of his face. The man also had a black bandana that covered his nose, cheeks, and mouth.

"Tracks headed east, two different blood trails, meaning the victim put up a fight," the man droned out, his deep voice carrying through the forest.

"Various long claw marks on the trees, and it seems that the beast didn't eat the victim as soon as it was capture, carried them back to its lair," the man said in monotone as he sniffed the air for anything suspicious.

The only scents he smelled were blood and various animals in the area, but not enough blood prevalent for him to follow the scent. It was the middle of the night, around three a.m. as he walked through the dark forest.

Several beasts ran through his head, Katakans and Werewolves being the most dangerous.

No, most werewolves in their savage state wouldn't carry the victims to their lairs, Katakan, or a lesser vampire, most-likely.

The man focused his senses as he came to a stream, kneeling down as he lowered the bandana to reveal an angular jawline thought a scar was sported on his mouth, reaching from below his lower lip to beside his left nostril.

He held a paler complexion that most, though it was not chalk white. The man had a sharp jaw line, thin lips, a straight, roman nose, grey eyebrows, and a sharp gaze. The man used very short, strict, and concise movements that used no more energy than they required even when preforming a mundane task such as drinking water.

The man used his hands to scoop water before he drank from it. The water was fresh and here in the mountains of Lightning Country, it was about as fresh as you could get.

Then again, with his improved metabolism, he could eat just about, or drink just about anything. He held an incredible immunity to diseases, one could akin them to jinchuuriki immune systems, and while most humans' appendixes had grown from being useful, his was jumpstarted with the mutations.

Naruto's ears twitched as he heard a rustling in the woods behind him. He lowered his hands and slowly used his left hand to reach for his silver sword.

Within the moment of a lightning strike, Naruto's sword was drawn just as a large creature leapt from the underbrush, its head resembling that of a giant bat. It had purple skin and white fur on the undersides of its thighs and forearms.

This was a Katakan, a lesser vampire with the ability to refract light around itself making it basically invisible.

The beast jumped to Naruto, its left claw intent on ripping the Witcher's head from his body.

Naruto twisted his form, making the Katakan miss his scalp by mere inches. The beast found its way into the water, thrashing and churning as it found its way to its haunches.

Naruto twirled his silver sword in his hand as the Wolf medallion he crafted vibrated steadily around his neck. His sword's blade was silver in color and relatively thin compared to most, but not as thin as a katana. It had a black, cylindrical hilt with a diamond-shaped pommel and a 'Y'-shaped hilt guard.

He had named it the Hellsing, but overall, the name was unimportant.

Naruto used his free right hand to raise the bandana to cover his mouth and nose. It served some purposes, simply one of looks as well as making it so no poisonous gasses could affect him, no matter the foe he fought.

He and the Katakan circled one another, the lesser vampire exiting the water of the stream just as he entered it. Naruto then broke the cycle of rotation as he continued out further into the shallow stream making the Katakan follow him.

It was then that beast went invisible.

It was also then that Naruto smirked.

The water churned wherever the beast went, and Naruto's delicately tuned eyesight followed its every move.

Without any way to recognize it attacking, the still-invisible beast leapt at the sixteen-year-old, both its claws held out in front of it, ready to pierce the Witcher's armor.

Naruto rolled out of the way before using his enhanced reflexes to kick the beast out of the way. The lesser vampire was sent flying out of water, losing its invisibility in the process. The Witcher ran towards the beast and swipe downward with his sword, succeeding in cutting off the hand of the Katakan.

The beast shrieked in terror as it scampered away from the silver sword, hissing a writhing in pain of having its hand cut off as well as being touched by silver. Naruto ran after the lesser vampire with speeds unseen as he was swiftly beside the beast in moments and elbowed the Katakan over in the ground and into a tree with his enhanced strength.

The lesser vampire didn't get up after that, simply pushing itself into a sitting position similar to that a human would do. It exhaled several times, unevenly as it lost massive amounts of blood from the wound.

Naruto looked at the beast and felt no pity, it was just that, a beast, and it deserved no compassion.

With several twirls of the sword, Naruto walked towards the Katakan, and moments later he was sealing its head into a scroll.

"Looks like this thing won't be giving the Raikage any more trouble," Naruto said to himself as he gathered several alchemical materials from the fallen beast. That was before Naruto heard a low groan.

The Witcher turned his head to see a man with a large gash along his chest and a just as large bite mark on his abdomen leaning against a nearby tree next to a cave. He looked to be in his twenties and was also bleeding from the mouth. With dreary eyes, the man looked at Naruto from his sitting position. "H-Help…me…" the man mumbled, coughing up a bit more red liquid in the process.

Naruto gazed blankly at the man. "Katakan saliva is extremely toxic because of all the different types of bacteria and other parasites. If you don't die from bleeding out, you'll experience many more different issues that will make you wish you were dead," the white-haired man elaborated making the sitting man look up at him before looking down.

"Make…it q-quick…" he said, closing his eyes afterward.

Naruto nodded and drew his sword.

He then sighed. It was going to be a long walk back to Kumo.

….

Three years had passed since his official turning into a Witcher. In those three years, his fame, wealth, and skill had increased exponentially. His status as Orochimaru's student merely faded into the background, his reputation as one of the best monster hunters in the world taking prevalence over that.

After the Trial of Grasses, Naruto opted to see how far he could take his body, without maiming it of course, studying the other augmentations of the book, one of which changed his hair white in exchange for a metabolism from hell, he didn't know how that worked, but it did. The trial of the grasses upped all of his abilities, while the other augmentations fine-tuned them, so to say.

The Trial enhanced his reflexes to superhuman heights, gave him increased muscle density, allowing him to lift several hundred pounds over his body weight. It gave him enhanced senses such as sight, hearing, and smell. His nose was greater than that of an Inuzuka.

Naruto could tell that these mutations were made for those with magic and not chakra. While he had gained a Magick core so that he could perform signs from the Trial, his chakra was not augmented in any way, in fact, he had to practice chakra control once more since the Magick core put it off balance so to say.

One of the most difficult things to accomplish was making it to where he didn't snap branches from a twitch, or overshoot while running, or punch someone from coming up behind him because of instinct.

Truly it was like having to teach himself not to be mentally inept when his body would seemingly do things of its own accord.

Briefly sighing to himself as he thought of the previous three years, Naruto passed through the west gates of Kumogakure (Village Hidden in the Clouds).

It was different than that of Konoha, as most of its buildings being built into its many tall spires they called mountains. Naruto could immediately tell that this village was more militarized than Konoha due to its three checkpoints instead of one at the gates. One checkpoint was located a mile from the gate and sported a sensor shinobi that detected any chakra anomalies. To progress, it required a card and stamp.

The next was a half mile from the gate that again, checked for any anomalies, and patted you down for anything not seen, and for each weapon hidden, it was documented that you had those weapons and any assaults in the village that were linked with them, they would come to you first. Again, one required a stamp from that checkpoint, and if you lacked a stamp from the previous checkpoint, you were immediately arrested.

The last checkpoint was at the gate, and again, gave you another stamp, patted you down, and checked for chakra. If you were a visitor, you had to keep the stamped card with you at all times, and if you were stopped, and did not have the card on you, you were immediately arrested.

The laws of Kumo were no joke, but to a frequent visitor and personal friend to the Raikage such as Naruto, he had grown accustomed to them.

As Naruto walked, his bandana still covering his mouth and chin, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small badge which sported a lightning bolt and symbol for 'Lightning Shadow' on it, signaling that he didn't need papers. The guards at the gate immediately recognized the badge and bowed lightly at the man, the Witcher showing no response in turn.

It was five in the afternoon and citizens were out and about. Shops were closing, families were going out to dinner, and the clubs of the village were opening, the early birds of the night going in to start their activities.

Naruto, his bandana in place, walked with a sedated pace through the crowds of citizens to his destination, the Raikage Tower, its placement being towards the tallest mountain of Kumogakure.

The Witcher looked upward, his red gaze travelling to the mountain and stopped before he pulled down his facemask and inhaled deeply before he promptly pulled his bandana back up, shivering slightly in disgust.

He preferred nature over anything because his senses weren't overwhelmed like they were in villages.

He sighed before he started to walk again. He really needed to grow used to villages with his senses or he would never be able to operate correctly within them.

…

Rounding a corner, the white-haired Witcher let his gaze settle on a silver-haired, tan-skinned woman behind a desk, writing diligently on a piece of paper before setting on a stack to her left, before grabbing another paper from a stack on the right and repeating the same process over and over again.

She was the secretary of the Raikage, age 23, Mabui, and no surname.

Naruto sighed slightly. He was very observant and usually picked up numerous amounts of useless information when either walking around or simply looking into files he…stumbled upon.

With a silent step, Naruto walked over to the silver-haired, diligently working woman and put his hands behind his back.

Mabui wrote on papers all day and often sung soft tunes to herself to pass large amounts of time. And more often than naught, she would zone out so completely, she would forget that she was actually writing on papers and forget her surroundings.

"Mabui-san," Naruto spoke in his deep-as-ever voice. It was very plain, and from then onward, he would assume that Mabui was a very scared person.

The Raikage's secretary nearly fell out of her chair as he made his presence known. It was also then that Naruto needed to announce whenever he was coming near her.

After regaining her wits, Mabui straightened herself up and looked at Naruto with an even gaze, or at least tried to. "N-Now, Naruto-sama, please f-follow me. Raikage-sama is always available to you," she said to him, grabbing a clipboard from her desk and gesturing him to follow her to a nearby door.

Naruto followed behind the dark skinned woman at a reserved pace, simply allowing himself to fall a few paces behind her. After a few moments of walking the two arrived at a large wooden door with the symbol for lightning shadow emblazoned between them.

Mabui stepped off to the side and gestured for Naruto to enter, the Witcher uttering a small thanks in return. The secretary bowed slightly as Naruto pushed open the doors carefully to see the Raikage filling out paperwork at his desk while Darui, one of his most trusted and capable jonins, looking out of the window while another of A's jonins, Cee, was organizing the paperwork his Kage was finishing.

"Enjoying the view, Darui?" Naruto asked amusedly as the dark-skinned men and Cee looked to see a familiar and favored employee of Kumo.

A grinned as he saw Naruto before he practically shoved the paperwork off of the desk to get a better look at the bandana-wearing, white-haired man. "Naruto, good to see you!" he said jovially while Cee was crying tears behind the desk of the Kage.

"A-sama, I just finished organizing the fund requests in alphabetical order!" he said dramatically while trying to scrape up the papers in a frantic race to save his work.

"Bah, who needs that nonsense when my favorite beast hunter is here!" A said with a large smile while gesturing for Naruto take a seat in front of the desk.

"Still wearing the bandana, Naruto?" Darui asked the white-haired man while Naruto sat in front of the Kage's desk after he had adjusted his swords to be on either side of him to not inhibit his sitting down.

"I still haven't grown used to the villages' scent. One of the downsides of having a nose like mine," Naruto said blandly though he easily knew where Darui was trying to steer the conversation to.

A rolled his eyes at that comment. "Are you trying to say that my village stinks?" he said to the man with a deadpan evident in his voice.

Naruto rolled his eyes in response while Darui simply smirked. "No, I'm not, but how would you like it when you smelled the scent of sex three houses away and the scent of someone's three day old trash sitting in the bin along with the breath of every drunken man stumbling out of the bar twenty seven feet away," Naruto responded in a deadpan while A, Cee, and Darui each sweatdropped at the specific aspect of Naruto's answer.

A sudden idea popped inside of Cee's head. "Why were there drunk men at five in the afternoon?" he asked Naruto.

"It's five o' clock somewhere," he responded while popping his neck.

"But it's five o'clock here," Darui said somewhat slowly.

"And that proves my point," Naruto said as he crossed his arms.

Each of the other men could feel that Naruto was smirking.

"Anyways," A began breaking the other three from the pointless banter, "you usually never visit me for pleasure, Naruto. What do you want?" he asked the Witcher with a raised eyebrow while he propped his left arm up to where his left fist was resting beneath his chin.

Both Darui and Cee made their way to either side of their Raikage in a very business-like fashion as Naruto had come to Kumo for mainly business.

Naruto nodded and pulled a scroll from the inside of his coat before he threw it top the Kage.

"That is the Katakan from the bounty board in District 4. It was issued by yourself so I saw it fit to deliver it personally," Naruto spoke in a monotone while A unfurled the scroll to see a storage seal. Sending a brief burst of chakra to the seal, a small burst of smoke enveloped the desk.

Moments later it was revealed to be the head of the Katakan in all of its bloody glory. Cee was the most perturbed by this but A quickly resealed the head before nodding to Naruto and rolling up the scroll.

"This Katakan was giving me problems near the outpost along the border. Thanks, Naruto," A said as he pulled a pouch full of ryo from under his desk and gestured for Naruto to take it.

Naruto stood up before taking the pouch. He briefly sifted through its contents before he glanced back to A and then down to the pouch before nodding. "50,000 Ryo as promised," he said as he put the pouch in his jacket moments later.

Naruto bowed a short bow towards the Raikage before he turned on heel and began to walk out.

"You're not staying longer, Naruto?" the Kage asked with a raised brow.

"I'll be in town for a few days getting supplies and repairing my items if they need it. I might do a little shopping. But currently I'm heading home as the travel here was tiresome," Naruto elaborated as A nodded to himself. "I'm sure if you need me, you'll find me," Naruto told A before he opened the door to the office before exiting.

Moments passed before Cee sighed to himself and threw his arms behind his head in a disappointed fashion. "Anyone else notice how he looked at the ryo and then back to us?" he asked while Darui nodded and A sighed.

"That guy feels like everyone's out to get him sometimes," Darui spoke as he crossed his arms and turned to A and Cee.

A chuckled making both of his subordinates look at him. "His sensei betrayed him and he's gotten the ire of a few major companies here in the elemental nations. Not to mention that Kiri has been sending out several assassins to him every once in a while," A elaborated while Cee sighed again at the mention of Kiri.

"So what he killed a few dozen of their foglets? It's not like they'll miss them," Cee said tiredly.

"It's not that, it's the fact that Yagura's outpost was attacked by rebels a day later. If the foglets were there in the marsh before the outpost the loyalists would have won but the rebels defeated them solidly. No loyalist survivors either," Darui responded with a bored tone.

The two began to bicker back and forth before A's sigh broke them from their banter. Seconds later he smiled slightly.

"At least Yugito is there for him," A said more to himself while Cee and Darui nodded as well.

….

Naruto walked down a street of Kumo in one of its residential districts. The sun was beginning to set and he had picked up ingredients to cook for himself when he got to his small home given to him by the Raikage after helping defend the village from a Fiend.

Some of the passing citizens looked at him with uneasy gazes as they hadn't seen him before or were wary of outsiders. Naruto didn't care, however. He was just a man going to his home.

Naruto walked at a restrained pace to his two-story apartment. The walls were white in color while the tiles were a dull bronze. Naruto sat a bag down before he fished out a set of keys from one of his many pockets. Moments later he unlocked the door and stepped in. With Naruto being observant he noticed a pair of blue shinobi sandals at the entrance of his home.

He had a guest it seemed. And based on the smell of the guest he knew who it was.

Naruto picked up the bag before he closed the door behind him. He sat the bags down once more before he sat down as well and began to take off his boots. He unbuckled them before he slid them off and sat them down beside the pair of shinobi sandals. That was before he heard the soft sound of bare feet pattering against the floor and then to his position.

"Hello there, Naruto-kun," he heard a familiar voice say to him before a pair of arms found themselves around his neck.

Naruto turned slightly to see a dirty-blonde haired woman smiling a very feline-like smile at him. She wore red lipstick at the moment that complimented her onyx-colored eyes. The only attire she had on was a simple light blue robe that reached to her knees.

"What are you doing here, Yugito?" he asked the woman as he stood up to remove his coat only for her to smile deviously as she slowly took it off for him. The coat was damn heavy too.

"I had heard from a little birdie that you came to the village a few days ago and had taken a bounty. I figured you were going to stay for a while so I decided I would come over and clean, turn the power back on as well as the gas," she told him as she put the coat on a nearby coat rack before turning back around to see him now garbed in a white shirt that had the sleeves rolled up to his elbows as well as a chainmail shirt that flung around freely. He also had on his gloves, pants, and that damned bandana. "These past two months have been agonizing without seeing you," she told him as she followed him through the living room where the moderately sized television was on and then to the kitchen.

Naruto sighed as he put the bag of ingredients on the counter before looking at her. "I've told you, Yugito," he began with an even gaze as she simply put a hand on her hip and smiled at him. "I want you to find another man. Being with me is not good for you. Waiting for me without opening yourself to other options is no life at all," he said as he closed his eyes and crossed his arms.

Her only response was for her to move towards him and lower the bandana-she had scented the house with a wonderful fragrance, he noticed-before she kissed him on the lips. She flung her arms around his head as he slowly returned the gesture, their bodies meshing to where the lines between them were indistinguishable.

Their lips moved in sync with one another, the kiss being chaste at first before Naruto prodded the entrance to her mouth with his tongue. She gladly opened it as their tongues intertwined and moved together. The kiss was almost needy on Yugito's part as Naruto's arms moved to where they were circled around her, just above her buttocks.

Moments later Yugito pulled away making Naruto open his red eyes to see her smirking at him before she began to lightly nibble on his neck making him groan lowly. Seconds of this passed before Yugito spoke. "I tried, Naruto," she told while burying herself in the crook of his neck. His eyes widen briefly in response.

"I tried to find someone else like you said to, I did. I even tried multiple guys, but I couldn't even try to kiss them let alone like them enough to go on another date," she told him while his eyes softened. "They just weren't you. When you trained here for those few months I just couldn't get you out of my head after you left. Even after you told me to find someone else, I couldn't do it," she told him.

Seconds passed before he spoke. "You know I can't return your feelings," he told her lowly which made her look up at him with a small, sad smile. Even though she was in her early twenties she couldn't get the Witcher out of her mind. It was like she was a teen all over again.

"I know, Naruto-kun," she said while he hmm'ed in response. "You will someday, though," she told him playfully while Naruto just shook his head lightly, a small smirk playing itself on to his lips.

"I'll make dinner," he told her in his usual monotone as she smiled and turned around, walking back to the living room with a slight extra movement in her hips so that he would stare.

And stare he did.

Naruto shook his head as she left the room before he did as well to retreat to his self-imposed man cave at the end of the hallway to his right which was below the stairs to his second floor. Ten minutes passed before Naruto came out of his storage room only garbed in a pair of loose-fitting black and white checkered pajamas that hung around his waist showing off the 'V' he had. His hair was still up in the spiky pony-tail and he was barefoot but this attire clearly showed off his physique.

The man held a wondrous muscle tone and looked to be chiseled from stone. He had a swimmer's body that was clearly sculpted from years of physical activity. Any woman that had seen his form couldn't forget it. A numerous amount of scars also tattered his torso and arms. The most prominent being a set of four claw marks that ripped across his left pectoral to his left shoulder. The other was a long scar that reached from his right hip, across his six-pack abdominal muscles, to just below his left pectoral.

Naruto hadn't just bought enough ingredients but he had bought much more food than even a family of five would be staying for three days, which was his previous estimate on how long he would be staying in Kumo.

With his metabolism, Naruto consumed three times as much as the daily calorie intake. He did this out of necessity more than pleasure, though he made sure all of the meals he prepared were adequate in taste. Though eating a whole deer in the wild threw some adventure in his diet whenever he was out in the wild.

It was fairly troublesome at times where he felt hungry after eating a large meal. It was also time consuming but he didn't want to be out of energy in the battlefield. That was one of the only reasons his physique was always so fit as it didn't store much fat, well, that and his rigorous trainings that it.

Naruto knew that he was no match for any S-Ranked Nin out there let alone his traitorous Sannin sensei. Naruto could hold his own against A-Ranked Nin but S-Ranked was out his reach. Each morning if he was in a settlement he would run without the assist of chakra, 4 miles before doing a warmup exorcise of several hundred pushups and body-weight squats before practicing in chakra control for an hour. Then he would practice sword swings with both his silver sword and his steel sword.

Next he used chakra weights to keep him down while he did more aerobic exercises. This kept his body in tip top shape. After this he would eat a majority of his daily calorie intake for breakfast which was a 3,000 calorie intake. The other three thousand calories settled around lunch and dinner.

Naruto knew his shinobi training was lacking as he rarely used chakra against the beasts he hunted. While the monsters were immune to chakra, they weren't immune to chakra-enhanced melee attacks or the aftereffects on chakra. One of their greatest follies was the Mokuton because again, while they were immune to chakra, they were not immune to the third-party after-effects such as a chakra-created floods, or earth techniques.

The white-haired man grit his teeth as he was born with neither the water or earth affinities. He was born with some of the least effective affinities against monsters. Lightning and Fire were his affinities and one of the few things he was not content with in his life. While these two natures were extremely effective against human personnel, they had next to no effects on monsters because the entire attack was based on chakra, as in chakra-created lightning, or chakra-created fires. Due to his Uzumaki blood he was granted great chakra reserves not unlike those of Jinchuriki and could spam a large amount of chakra-extensive techniques.

It was one of the attributes that made the Sandaime actually pull aside a citizen of the leaf aside to ask them to join the Shinobi corps as a chuunin.

Unlike those of Jiraiya of the Sannin and Anko to Orochimaru, Naruto had no ties to the shinobi populace. He could leave freely and migrate to whatever corner of the world he chose.

Naruto actually laughed a bit as he thought of the ANBU sent to fetch him to come to the Hokage.

….

 **Three Years Ago: Naruto's apartment in the Leaf, Night Time…**

"Excuse me, you want me to _what?"_ Naruto asked incredulously to the pair of ANBU, or bearing a Cat mask, a purple-haired female, and a black-haired male wearing a weasel mask. They were both garbed in traditional ANBU attire and held an air of subtly to them, more-so the female as she carried a katana on her back. Naruto himself was only in a pair of loose fitting sweatpants showing his developing physique which reminded Itachi of a person going for speed and strength rather than pure strength. And if the ANBU were perturbed about his eyes the two did not show it.

The weasel-masked ANBU coughed slightly causing Naruto's left hand to twitch making the boy scowl. "We would like you to accompany us to Hokage-sama's office," he said to the blonde-haired, red-eyed boy.

It was one week after Naruto's official turning into a Witcher and he was still acclimating to his newly gained functions. Every twitch someone else would make, would make himself twitch in anticipation. Every breath which he did not anticipate would make him scowl, and the stench, Kami don't get him started on the smell of his apartment, which he previously thought was fine, stank like a carcass and streets outside were worse. His eyes picked up some of the most minute details such as very, very light indentions in the earth that lead him to someone, or a few misplaced hairs or day old trails comprised of blood, fur, or simple smells.

He would make the best hunter/tracker nin ever produced. Rivaling the eyesight of a Hyuuga, smell of an Inuzuka, or track finding of an Aburame.

But his viewpoints on Shinobi hadn't changed from those of his younger years. They were killers, ransacks, and beasts. At least the profession he followed had some honor, other than doing some jobs solely for monetary gain of course.

"I am not a Shinobi of his so what could he want with me?" Naruto asked while crossing his arms. He ignored the twitch in the cat-masked ANBU's lower jaw as well as the twitch in his own bicep.

Weasel spoke again. He held some rank over Neko it Naruto assumed. He also seemed more professional than her as well. "Hokage-sama would like to speak with you in person about the subject," he said while Naruto groaned. Even if one were a civilian in any village, they abided by a Kage's rulings be they a shinobi or civilian.

Naruto's eyes narrowed at the two elite ninja before he huffed and grabbed a piece of cloth from a nearby stand and tied his hair in a short ponytail. "Give me a few moments," Naruto said as he used his foot to close the door behind him as he walked away. The two ANBU sighed as Neko adopted a more relaxed posture while putting her hand on her hip.

"He sure is reserved, Taicho (Captain)," Neko said as she looked at the Weasel-masked man who still held the same posture, both his hands behind his back and staring straight forward.

Moments passed before Weasel spoke. "This does not occur often when related to ninja matters and I'm sure Uzumaki-san knows this. He was trained by a Sannin, and no matter how strange his combat style is, he is still as deadly as any shinobi," the black-haired man spoke of the mutated blonde in the apartment before them.

Neko nodded. "The Hokage does not pull random civilians off the street to become shinobi. He must have saw something in the boy," she said which made Weasel nod curtly.

"Or perhaps he is trying to remind himself of his former pupil," Naruto spoke as he opened the door, already having heard their conversation from other side of the apartment.

Neko could feel Weasel's blistering side glare which made her sweat. She was sure that the boy before wasn't anywhere near them when she spoke of what the Hokage wanted of the boy.

Naruto was now garbed in a pair of black boots and black trousers which had leather padding on the shins and thighs with a light amount of chain mail covering both of them. On his chest he wore a plain white shirt with the sleeves rolled up. On his hands he wore black leather gloves with metal plating on the top of the hand and down the fingers. And on his back he sported the Kusanagi crisscrossed with his newly forged silver sword, Hellsing. While they were both long, Naruto's current stature of five foot two could handle them.

"Let's get this over with," Naruto spoke to the two while the both nodded before the began to run down the street at a moderate pace which made Naruto sigh before he took off after them, virtually appearing before them on a roof top though he stumbled slightly at his chakra-enhanced speed with his newly forming muscle density. After he gained his footing, he spoke.

"As you said, I was trained by a Sannin. I may not be a shinobi but I know your arts," Naruto said as he openly glared at the two ANBU beneath him, his red eyes boring into their own. It being night time, it gave the teen an ominous look.

Neko gulped while Weasel narrowed his own now red eyes. It didn't matter if he didn't possess all of a Shinobi's attributes. He made up for it with those augmentations. It seemed that he possessed greater hearing, and Itachi assumed that he great eyesight as well. From the definition of Naruto's physique Itachi saw earlier, he also assumed that Naruto was stronger than any non-chakra enhanced woman or man.

Itachi would also assume that the teen also had great reflexes as what he had calculated earlier, the stumble was corrected quickly, too quickly for any normal shinobi. These were the observed reasons as to why Hiruzen wanted this particular citizen in his Shinobi Corps. Even though Naruto had thinned the monsters inside Konoha and around it by a large margin, Konoha's Monster Hunting Corps could take up the slack. The Hokage did not want any rouge agents with the skill of a shinobi inside Konoha, it being the former Hokage's son or not.

Itachi snapped out his train of thought as Naruto began to tap his foot on the ceiling he was standing on. Seconds later Itachi disappeared with Naruto not very far behind at all and Yugao taking up the rear.

…

Naruto, Itachi, and Yugao appeared in the Hokage's office, the latter two appearing slightly burdened if their panting had anything to do with it while the former was completely unaffected by the large amount of physical activity.

Naruto had large amounts of stamina as well, Itachi guessed. Though a key advantage Itachi currently held over the younger of the two was sheer amount of experience the young ANBU captain possessed. While Naruto was an expert in monster hunter, Itachi was as well versed in conflicts with Shinobi.

Naruto gazed around the Hokage's office, this only being his third time here as the other two were for monster contracts. It was plain with wooden floors a large desk towards the window that overlooked the ever-living village of Konoha, and a number of bookshelves lined the walls along with a few pictures.

The current Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, looked over the village while he smoked from his pipe. He was 65 going on 66 if Naruto remembered correctly. The man was garbed in his Fire Shadow attire with red and white robes along with the signature hat.

"Naruto Uzumaki," the kage spoke white Itachi and Yugao saluted before they disappeared into the shadows though Naruto's eyes saw them on the ceiling along with two other ANBU in the corners of the room.

Naruto put his arms behind his back and looked evenly at the man. "What did you call me for, Hokage-sama?" he said professionally and neutrally.

Hiruzen took a few moments to respond as he puffed on his pipe filled with tobacco or something else, Naruto couldn't determine the smell.

"How are you doing today, my boy?" Hiruzen asked in a grandfatherly voice as he deflected the question. The boy was too on guard for his liking.

Naruto's left index finger twitched slightly. "How I am doing is irrelevant, Hokage-sama," Naruto responded with a monotone which made the Hokage narrow his eyes behind the desk. Naruto just responded the way an ANBU would have responded. Could it be the emotional conditioning Orochimaru had requested years ago?

"What do you think you are here for, Naruto-kun?" Hiruzen asked after a moment. He had hoped to get Naruto's guard down before he asked the boy to join his Shinobi corps.

"I am here for whatever you desire, Hokage-sama. Or do you have a contract you wish me to accept?" Naruto asked in monotone while his neck muscle jumped when the Hokage spoke. At first Naruto wrote this off as a random spasm, one of the many he had been having with his new nerves, but he soon realized that this Kage made him irritable. _Very_ irritable.

"Alright, if it's for whatever I want, Naruto," the Sandaime snapped back as he stuffed his pipe away in his desk before he turned to the Witcher.

Naruto merely gazed at the clearly irritated kage professionally. However Naruto's nerves practically jumped when they felt the subtle amount of killer intent in the room before it left.

Hiruzen sighed as he massaged his temples. Moments later he looked at the youth before him and gazed evenly at his red-colored eyes. "I have received reports of your change in eye color. The reports didn't do it justice. I can see how you twitch every now and then, the muscle tone, you glancing around every few moments. I experienced the very same things with Orochimaru himself as he tested the limits of his body but it was never _this_ bad. Just what did you do to yourself, Naruto?" the Kage asked with a fair amount of genuine worry. The other amount of emotions ranged to curiosity.

"Konoha Civil Rights section 43:A, and I quote, "Each citizen of the leaf village is hereby given the right to privacy in their own properties and home and the actions committed in them. Unless an express state of emergency stated by the entire council and Konohagakure's current Hokage, or a publically made search and seizure warrant is made, this privacy is upheld to the highest importance." End Quote," Naruto recited to the Kage in monotone while Hiruzen merely rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair.

"I figured you would pull that card," Hiruzen muttered while Naruto's ear twitched as the almost whisper registered.

"That is my trump card, Hokage-sama," Naruto responded in kind.

Hiruzen also smirked. "I figured you had gained enhanced hearing as well," he said to the youth while Naruto inwardly grimaced as he gave himself away.

Moments passed as the two stared at one another. Naruto spoke next, trying to pull the Kage from his mind games. "What do you require, Hokage-sama?" he asked once more.

Hiruzen sighed as he nursed his chin on his fingers. "Would you like to join your age groups class as a shinobi? Due to Orochimaru's teaching you are more than ready to their class and be well ahead of everyone, the clan heirs included," Hiruzen told the blonde finally. Naruto didn't respond so the Sarutobi decided he would up the blonde's gain by a few margins. "Or would you like to be promoted to Chuunin right here and now? If nurtured properly, by your twentieth birthday you would be one of the most powerful ninjas Konoha has ever produced at a young age. I would personally assign trainers to you in hopes to have you brought up properly," the Sandaime paused for a moment.

"Merely self tutoring yourself could lead to many errors that would be detrimental in the field. So, what do you choose, Naruto-kun?" Hiruzen asked as he leaned back in his chair. If the blonde chose either it would benefit the village greatly. They would have a powerful up and coming ninja to help bring forth the next generation. Meanwhile the ANBU in the room were shocked. The kage before them had never offered something to a citizen who had never joined the academy.

Naruto looked at the Kage before he sighed himself. "I have self-tutored myself to get this far. Orochimaru saw only the scientific aspects of my study and lightly trained me in other areas. What I have now is pinnacle of what I can achieve," Naruto told the Kage before Hiruzen grinned slightly.

"Does that mean-," Hiruzen was cut off by the blonde raising a hand to stop him.

"I was going to say that this is the pinnacle of what I can achieve here, in this village, fighting monsters in only the surrounding area," Naruto told the Kage of which now sat wide-eyed. "I accept neither of your propositions, Hokage-sama. With all due respect, you shouldn't waste resources on someone who doesn't need it," Naruto told the Kage who looked surprised. "I have barely trained in the Shinobi arts and I can take on some of your lower-tiered jonins from my analyses. And I am only halfway done with my other type of training," Naruto told the Kage of which now sat wide-eyed.

Naruto turned on heel and began to walk to the door.

"Hokage-sama," Naruto spoke as he opened the door to the office. "I will not be located in this village by tomorrow. You may hear of me within the next few years, and you may make me the same offer to join your Shinobi ranks. But my answer will always be no. I am not a Shinobi, I am not an assassin, a Ninjutsu expert, a Genjutsu specialist, or a Taijutsu master. I am, and always will be a Witcher. We may both be mercenaries but that's all we'll have in common," a pause," Have a good night, Hokage-sama."

And with that, Naruto had left the Hokage to his body guards. If Hiruzen had not have been tempered with patience throughout his years he would have thrown a literal temper tantrum.

That was before his eyes widened and he smiled somewhat.

 _He truly is you and Kushina combined, Minato. You'd be proud,_ the Sarutobi clan head thought as he turned around to look out over the village once more.

Second later he paled.

 _I sure hope Kushina doesn't find out about this,_ he thought with horror.

….

 **Present time…**

Naruto had just finished preparing dinner for both Yugito and himself before he began to sit the food down on the table. It was a small feast if another person were to look at it. It was comprised of shrimp, a few medium sized bowls of ramen as it contained a large amount of calories and didn't take a large amount of time to consume, some fresh rabbit he had bought at the store and stir-fried, some fish for both Yugito and himself, and some cooked beef. It was protein heavy and contained a large amount of carbs, just how Naruto liked it.

"Yugito, dinner is ready!" Naruto announced in his deep as ever voice.

"Alright!" the dirty blonde Jinchuriki said as she came down from the upstairs.

Moments later, Naruto heard a knock on the door.

The Witcher groaned lightly. He had spent this much time cooking and now he had to wait to eat.

The white-haired male made his way to the doorway before he opened the door to see three individuals, one male, the other two female, standing in the doorway.

The male was dark-skinned and had black eyes and light-blonde, almost white hair. He had a katana on his back and was in the traditional grey of Kumo's uniforms. Naruto also noticed that he had a Kumo headband on his forehead.

One of the other females had red hair and golden eyes as well as dark skin. She had a lithe figure and was around five foot five in height. She wore a grey shirt with torn off sleeves and white almost vest-like attire over that which was signature to most Kumo nin. She also had a katana on her back and her headband was like a bandana and was situated on her forehead.

The last female was blonde haired and blue eyed and unlike the other two had fair skin. She wore a grey shirt with a deep v that showed off her impressive cleavage though it was covered with fishnet. Looking down she wore a black skirt that reached her upper mid-thigh. Unlike the other two she wore wrist guards and had a ninjato on her lower back.

For age, Naruto would have guessed they were about his age though he looked like an old man sometimes.

Naruto looked at them and put an arm on the frame and raised an eyebrow.

The blonde-haired girl looked away with a dark blush evident on her face while the red-haired girl did the same. The white haired male gulped as he looked at how intimidating the male in the doorway looked. Perhaps their sensei had given them the wrong address and now this man would kill them because he was annoyed-!

Omoi gulped. "A-Ah, yes, you see we're-," he was cut off by a prompt door closing in his face, "looking for our sensei?"

Naruto grunted in annoyance as he made his way back to the dinner table which was parallel to the living room so that he could watch whatever was on while eating.

Yugito was already at the table and lightly eating her fish as Naruto sat down.

"Who was that?" she asked him as he broke apart a pair of chopsticks, the pieces of wood breaking apart from the amount of pressure his frustrated form exerting.

Naruto sighed as he got a steel fork from beside his plate before he picked up a piece of beef and scooted over a bowl of ramen. "Three genin selling something I believe. One had white hair, the others ones blonde and red," he said without a care as he began to eat.

Yugito sighed as she got up. Naruto was still eating and idly watching the television as she left. Moments later he heard shuffling in the den before Naruto turned to see the three Kumo genin, one with an angry face, another with an apathetic face, the other looked like he was about to be in tears.

Naruto raised a brow as he continued to eat. Yugito huffed while he shrugged.

"I'm not apologizing."

… **.**

 **REVIEW!**

 **Here's an early Christmas present for you. And very sorry for the wait, didn't intend for it.**

 **Incarnate and Deal With It are next on my list.**

 **But thanks for reading and whatnot. I made it a bit longer than usual but again, sorry for the wait.**

 **REVIEW and peace!**

 **:D**


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